If you think we don't have a problem, keep reading. If you are waiting for change, don't hold your breath. Once again we have sat in the comforts of our homes and watched a black man die at the hands of police officers that didn't care.
THE VIDEO
I watched the raw video assuming there was only one man on top of George Floyd, but there were three, and a fourth controlled the crowd. I kept thinking at any moment the officer would let up on him and they would put him in the car. It never happened. I could hear the man's cries for help, even sounded like he called his mother, either way... his cries were ignored. I really had a problem with the smug look on the officers face, he was too comfortable. To find that this began with an alleged forgery- is troubling. This was not an active shooter, not a robbery in progress or a drug bust. If it was true, it was a paper check.
I couldn't have been in the crowd that day. See society has been trained to not intervene in police situations so they were limited in what they could do. Being a problem solver, I tried to figure out what I could have done. I am not good at watching something like that happen, and doing nothing. Since my mother was a police officer, I have reported, confronted, written letters, fussed at, and collected badge numbers from officers that were out of the norm that I learned from her. I support our officers because she was such a great one, as were those she brought around our house. But if I was there, I would have been arrested or something. I had to google whether or not I could make a citizens arrest on a police officer. Finding that I could, I devised a complete plan just in case... That's kind of weird seeing as we all have other things to be doing in life other than trying to police the police. But someone has got to do it.
CHANGE FROM WITHIN
Just to be honest, I realize that many people will not change. If you were raised racist, prejudice or angry, you will not change just because one facet of society says you need to. We don't expect government to change the hearts of people, only God can do that. But we do expect government for the people, by the people, to care about ALL the people. We expect that simple humane guidelines should be followed for any and everyone, and if we find that personal thoughts or upbringing hinders you from doing that, you are in the wrong profession.
This incident as well as all others, was unacceptable on so many levels. Although firing is better than paid leave, even conviction, and sentencing is not going to be enough. Many people have a voice in high places, but because it is unlikely that your family will be a victim of this, you stay silent. We don't expect for you to become an full time activist and stay there, this is not what everyone is called to do, but we are responsible for the laws of this land and our voice counts. If we can start a #metoo movement and have men arrested and put in jail over an alleged rape or sexual assault that happened years ago, CERTAINLY we can have a police officer or anyone arrested and put in jail for killing someone or using unnecessary force on a HUMAN BEING when we see the video today. That should be followed by changes in laws and guidelines to stop it from happening again, Justice is not justice if it does not happen, and it is not really just if it only happens once.
TRUE JUSTICE IS NOT AN ISOLATED INCIDENT
When asked what we want to happen, often we say 'Justice'. But what exactly is that? Someone being charged and sent to prison? Death penalty? Life sentence? Truthfully I have issues with only wanting justice. See justice may look a bit like an arrest, conviction, a suitable sentence, but it also looks like anyone who knows they have a volatile officer on the job also being held responsible for not dealing with them before something like this happens. It means having a process that makes everyone accountable for the actions of their partner. It looks like changing how you train people, requiring more education to be a police officer. If you put more into education, we can put less into loss. Justice is not justice if it only works for one family, that means we have not learned anything that flows to the next recruit. Actions towards justice should bring fear to those who would want to do the same. Dirty cops, unnecessary roughness, and hate is only entertaining in movies. In real life, real lives are lost.
SCARED STRAIGHT
I remember years ago, in the 1980's, my mother let us watch the television show "Scared Straight". We watched at-risk kids who visited local prisons to learn what could happen if they didn't change their ways. It worked for some, didn't for others, but the attempt was given to change their paths. I think today we don't have anything that scares officers or racist people from doing something that should land them in prison, because we find it doesn't really land them in prison.
If you are someone who still thinks there is no problem, or if you are a person who feels privileged, and prison doesn't scare you, be scared of this... People nowadays are not the people of old who were scared of other races. My concern is that this generation of "minorities" (who are no longer a minority), will not put up with injustices much longer. When people thought injustice was just in their minds of the people complaining, and there was no proof, it seemed like reasonable doubt. But this generation records EVERYTHING, there is no doubt anymore, and we can all see it is not just in "their minds".
I can end with a solution that is found in God, but many people are not going to go there with me. Many may not believe in God and others may be tired of hearing it. (though it is true) If you are the person who does not believe in God, believe in this... If we don't make internal, swift, changes, if we don't take inventory of our processes and our unspoken "Blue Bonds", we are going to see more than riots in the streets of the city where an injustice happened. Fear changes quickly to anger, and anger with no resolve, grows.
We can't hold our breath waiting to see if someone will do something when our men "can't breathe". I pray we fix this internal problem in our government, in our police departments and society. None of us will be able to breathe freely until we do. If we don't fix this you may as well exhale and pray for us all.
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